Corr can find a missing link - U's tie-up can lift ambitious Saints

St Neots Town boss Barry Corr hopes a pioneering new partnership with nearby Cambridge United will help Saints be more competitive and challenge for promotion.

The collaboration sees Corr combine his role at non-league Saints while continuing as development coach at Cambridge where he is responsible for managing the transition of the club’s young professionals to senior football.

This link with St Neots offers another route for Cambridge’s youngsters to play regular senior men’s football, with direction from their parent club. Four Cambridge players went on loan to St Neots in January, two of who have now signed professional contracts at Cowley Park.

While the new partnership will serve as a finishing school for some of Cambridge’s bright talent, Corr insists that he has taken the job at the Premier Plus Stadium in order to make St Neots successful and challenge for promotion after a tough couple of years which has seen them fighting off relegation.

“People may have reservations that I was just going in for the development of Cambridge players. That’s certainly part of the job, but I'm a really ambitious guy, and really competitive.

“So, I want to do well for St Neots. Great players, I'd like to think, will develop within that, but I want to be successful on the pitch. That’s the ultimate goal for me. I’d like to jump up a division, so that’s how competitive we want to be.

“I’m definitely not there just for player development and wanting Cambridge players to get 90 minutes every week. I’m there to win football matches.”

Corr, 35, brings vast experience from a 16-year career. The Ireland-born striker played over 300 professional games during stints at Southend United, Sheffield Wednesday and Exeter before finishing at Cambridge.

St Neots were without a manager and in freefall near the bottom of Southern League Division One Central when he took over in January. Before the season ended prematurely, he oversaw two wins from nine games, but importantly he says he saw consistent improvements in performance from a team very much in transition.

Corr hopes St Neots’ existing players have benefited from the professional training set-up he has been able to offer as well from the contributions made by the loan players.

Attention is now shifting to next season. Corr’s time in charge has given him an insight into what the club needs in order to be successful. He is aware that the existing St Neots players and the loan players from Cambridge make up a youthful squad.

“We played really well, dominated the ball, had really good spells in the game, but then we’d concede off a set-piece or something like that, where that kind of physicality of the opposition tolled more than their technical ability.

“So, we definitely have to have some good experienced physical players in the team as well to help the young ones out and that's certainly an emphasis for next season.”

As a result, Corr is looking to bolster the squad by signing players who have played at a high level and who will be a good influence for the youngsters.

The tie-in with Cambridge might also offer opportunities for homegrown St Neots players to make the move in the opposite direction. Corr has been impressed with the St Neots youth system and even before this collaboration, Cambridge had recruited players from St Neots, most recently Joe Rider.

“There's really good work that goes on. I've been so impressed with St Neots and the way the club is run. There are really good people there, great facilities and a really good youth programme in place. That is certainly something that potentially could happen and St Neots would be delighted with that, because that's big success for them, players going up to a higher level.”